TAMPA -- Florida sets another record for insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
The latest open enrollment numbers show more Floridians signing up for A-C-A plans, than in any other state, with 4.2 million-plus enrollees.
House Democrat Kathy Castor from the Tampa Bay area, points to recent drops in Medicaid enrollment as a reason. States were required to accept more Medicaid patients during the COVID emergency, overruling Florida's rejection of Medicaid expansion under the ACA. When the COVID emergency ended, prior rules went back into place, requiring Floridians to re-enroll.
Governor DeSantis and state Republican leaders have opposed Medicaid expansion, citing costs.
Nearly a million people have been dropped from Medicaid while trying to requalify, after COVID-era funding ended. A class-action lawsuit is being slowed down in the federal court system, after it was revised to add more plaintiffs.
Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.
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